 One day ahead of the scheduled arrival of U.S. special envoy to the Middle East David Satterfield, hundreds of Lebanese youths gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar Tuesday to protest American interference in the country and UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Less than one week after a similar demonstration, yesterday's protest was by far the smallest demonstration since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Jamal Ghorabi, 22, said: "Today's demonstration could have been bigger but we wanted it to be symbolic. The number doesn't count as long as we show others that there is another viewpoint."
| That means all the other guys were having their hair done that day... |
| They were having their beards oiled and curled... |
| ... and liner and mascara for the eye-rolling ... |
Ghorabi, head of activities in Al-Nasiri group, told The Daily Star that his group took part in the demonstration to express their resentment of any external interference, to reject calls for the disarming of the resistance and to refuse Resolution 1559. Tuesday's rally was organized by several student wings of Lebanon's pro-Syrian parties, including Hizbullah and Amal. The participants, who came from throughout the country, spoke in one unified voice as they shouted, "No for Foreign interference. No for Zionism and terrorism." Mohammed Melhem, 18, from the southern village of Majdel Silm, said: "We say yes to democracy but not the U.S. democracy. Lebanon can manage on its own, and we don't want the U.S. to intervene in our internal affairs. They aided Israel against us by giving it arms, why do they look for our best interest now?" Altered posters of U.S. President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were brandished by the youths and later burned. |